In the March 4, 2001 episode titled “Hungry, Hungry Homer,” the owner of the hometown Springfield Isotopes were planning to move the team to Albuquerque, N.M. Homer Simpson aimed to thwart the team’s plan by going on a hunger strike.

That’s Rockies manager Walt Weiss, a former all-star shortstop, talking about the rolling-in-the-dirt double play turned by Dodgers’ second baseman Dee Gordon on Tuesday.

With the Rockies ahead 7-2 in the sixth inning, DJ LeMahieu hit a high-chopping grounder up the middle, a shade right of second base. Gordon sprinted right, dove and — while falling — speared the ball and rolled it to Justin Turner to start a double play.

Walt Weiss played coy to start, saying only that he moved Franklin Morales to the Rockies’ bullpen. Then he spilled the secret. “There are no secrets these days, anyway.”

Yohan Flande, the Rockies’ 28-year-old rookie lefty with an 0-5 record and a 5.04 ERA, will move back into Colorado’s starting rotation to finish off the 2014 season. He will start Thursday against the Dodgers at Coors Field.

The Rockies, finishing out a losing 2014, will begin their search for 2015 starters early. They’ve used 15 starters this season — Jorge De La Rosa’s 30 games leads them all, with Morales second at 22.

What’s up: Fame is fickle and fleeting, especially in Los Angeles. Puig, who escaped Cuba to become an instant celebrity wearing Dodger Blue, was one of baseball’s best players in the first half of the season. Now, as the Dodgers attempt to fend off the Giants for the National League West title, Puig is mired in a horrendous slump. Manager Don Mattingly is sticking with Puig, but it’s getting tough to justify not benching him.

Background: Puig hit .398 with eight home runs in May. He started in the All-Star Game, though he struck out in the Home Run Derby. Everything Puig’s done has been under a spotlight. And now that spotlight is white hot as his slump deepens. He hit .216 in August and is hitting .172 in September. He entered Saturday night’s game against the Giants without a home run in 126 at-bats.

Saunders’ take: Mattingly, who’s had his own battles with the mercurial Puig, has stood by him through the slump. He’s tried hitting Puig from the leadoff spot, from the sixth spot and from the seventh spot. “At the end of the day, we know we need him,” Mattingly told reporters last week. “We know we’re going to need this guy to get going. And when he’s going good, we’re a better team. It’s time. We’re at that point where it’s just time for him to get it rolling.” But you have to wonder how long Mattingly can wait to make a move. The Dodgers have a $239 million payroll, and they are paying $15.5 million to Andre Ethier to have him sit on the bench. Ethier is not the player he used to be, and he might not even make the playoff roster, but Puig needs a few games out of the spotlight.

Rockies prospect Tyler Anderson was shut down after three innings Wednesday night because of elbow soreness. (MiLB.com)

The Double-A Tulsa Drillers’ 5-2 victory over Midland in Game 2 of the Texas League Championship Series Wednesday night was a good-news, bad-news affair.

The good: Catcher Chris O’Dowd (son of Rockies GM Dan O’Dowd) went 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Also, the Drillers’ bullpen pitched well to preserve the victory.

The bad: Lefty Tyler Anderson, one of the Rockies’ top prospects and the Texas League pitcher of the year, left the game after pitching only three innings because of a left elbow soreness. I’ve been told that the move was made as a precaution and that the organization is keeping close tabs on Anderson, the Rockies’ first-round pick out of Oregon in the 2011 draft.

The Rockies’ Michael Cuddyer will become a free agent at the end of the 2014 season.(Lenny Ignelzi, The Associated Press)

Walt Weiss wants Michael Cuddyer back in a Rockies uniform next season.

That seems unlikely to happen unless Cuddyer and the Rockies both are willing to compromise a great deal. Cuddyer is nearing the end of his three-year, $31.5 million contract and he’ll soon be a free agent.

Rockies left-hander Brett Anderson suffered a back injury during a game against the Chicago Cubs in the fourth inning at Coors Field on Aug. 5. (Doug Pensinger, Getty Images)

The Brett Anderson conundrum: Do the Rockies keep the left-handed starter or let him walk on the basis of his injury history?

Whether or not the Rockies pick up the option on his contract is a $12 million question confronting the front office.

Anderson said Sunday that he’s progressing well after undergoing surgery last month to repair a ruptured disc in his lower back. He’ll begin core-strengthening exercises on Monday. Doctors have told him he’s doing fine, and the fact that he doesn’t have a history of back problems adds to a positive prognosis.

Still, he’s undergone Tommy John surgery, had a stress fracture in his foot, broke his index finger while batting early this season and injured his back, all in the span of four seasons. He’s made just 19 starts over the past three seasons. Is that the kind of pitcher a mid-market club an afford to pay $12 million?

What’s up: After he had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow last October, Matt Harvey said his goal was to pitch in a big-league game this season. It was an optimistic, unrealistic goal. Thursday, the New York Daily News reported that Harvey will throw just a few more bullpen sessions before being completely shut down until spring training.

Background: The Mets, headed for their sixth consecutive losing season, are counting on Harvey to be the ace of their rotation in 2015. It seems like eons ago when he was the National League’s starting pitcher at the 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field in New York. At the time, he was tabbed as baseball’s next great pitcher. But he was shut down after making an Aug. 24, 2013, start because of forearm pain. Still, he finished 9-5 last year with a 2.27 ERA and 0.93 WHIP.

And the numbers behind Matzek’s swift win over the Padres puts his game among the best ever thrown by a Rockies pitcher in Colorado.

Matzek’s three hits allowed are the second-fewest ever by a Rockies pitcher in a complete-game shutout. Jeff Francis beat the Cardinals at Coors Field in 2006 with just two hits allowed. And Sun-Woo Kim topped the Giants on three hits, 6-0 in 2005.

“We had a day off today, so I decided to come out and check out some of these guys and watch how good they are,” said Arenado, who was joined by fellow Rockies Tyler Chatwood, Ben Paulsen, Kyle Parker, Matt McBride and outfielder Drew Stubbs. “It’s amazing to watch them play and how consistent they are.”

What’s up: Lincecum is a two-time National League Cy Young Award winner, but that was half a decade ago. His ERA has risen to a Rockies-like 4.64 and he’s no longer the ace of the Giants’ rotation. That torch has been passed to lefty Madison Bumgarner, who nearly no-hit the Rockies last week. Linceum is now a reliever.

Background: From 2012-14, the right-hander’s ERA has been 4.73, even though he works his home games at pitcher-comfy AT&T Park. His strikeout rate has fallen by more than two K’s per nine innings from his Cy Young Award years, and his velocity has dipped considerably. He went 1-2 with a 7.94 ERA in August, prompting veteran manager Bruce Bochy to relegate him to the bullpen and move Yusmeiro Petit into the rotation.

Saunders’ take: Watching Linceum pitch was always a treat — particularly at AT&T Park, where a seat in the press box allowed me to see the incredible movement on his pitches. He’s clearly on the downside of his career, but a move to the bullpen is a smart move by Bochy. It certainly worked in 2012, when Lincecum was moved to the bullpen for the playoffs and performed splendidly. In five relief appearances, Lincecum pitched 13 innings, allowing only one run on three hits while striking out 17 and walking just two. In Game 4 of the NLDS against Cincinnati, Lincecum pitched 4 ⅓ innings. In Game 1 of the World Series, he struck out five of the seven batters he faced in 2 ⅓ innings. If the Giants can hang on and make the playoffs, Linecum can be a valuable weapon for them.

In 2013, Rex Brothers had a dream season, going 2-1 with a 1.74 ERA. He converted 19 of 21 save opportunities.

This year, the lefty reliever is 4-6 with a 5.86 ERA. He walked the bases full in the eighth inning Friday night, setting the stage for the Rockies’ 5-2 loss to the Diamondbacks. The 2014 season has been a nightmare.

In response, manager Walt Weiss is going to give Brothers some breathing room in the final month of the season. Weiss will be selective in how he uses Brothers.

“With the expanded roster and everything, I’ll pick my spots,” Weiss said Saturday before the Rockies played the Diamondbacks. “I’m not saying that he’s not going to pitch with the lead, or anything like that. But if I have the opportunity to help him work through some things, and not have him in the fire down the stretch, I’m going to do that.”

According to Heyman, the Brewers made an offer of unknown players to the Rockies, but the Rockies apparently didn’t believe it was good enough value to trade Morneau.

Morneau, in the first year of a two-year contract with the Rockies, leads the National League in hitting with a .317 average. He’s also hit 14 home runs with 69 RBI and an .857 OPS. He’s fielded first base at a Gold Glove level.Read more…

Wilin Rosario (20) congratulates Michael Cuddyer (3) after a home run Aug. 17 against the Reds at Coors Field. (Dustin Bradford, Getty Images)

The Rockies won’t have Michael Cuddyer to put pop in their lineup until Sept. 8. He went on the disabled list Sunday before Sunday’s game against the Marlins. His absence was extended in part because Colorado was protecting catcher Wilin Rosario.

When the Rockies went to extra innings Saturday against Miami, manager Walt Weiss had Cuddyer, Rosario and Matt McBride available to pinch hit. He saved McBride as a utilityman (the recent call-up basically plays every field position). And he used Cuddyer because Rosario was injured with a left wrist tweak.

Cuddyer hadn’t played since last Sunday, when he played both games of a double header and hit for the cycle in the second game. But his pinch-hit appearance meant the Rockies weren’t able to make his DL stay retroactive.

Top Rockies prospect Jon Gray is on the seven-day DL as he rests up for Double-A Tulsa’s postseason. (Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post)

In case you missed it (ICYMI in the Twittersphere), word came out last night that right-hander Jon Gray and lefty Tyler Anderson, two of the Rockies’ top prospects at Double-A Tulsa, have been placed on the disabled list.

Patrick, a third-generation Colorado native, is back for his second stint covering the Rockies. He first covered the team from 2005-2009, helping chronicle “Rocktober” in 2007 and also following the team’s playoff run in 2009.

Nick Groke has worked at The Denver Post since 1997, as a sports reporter, city reporter, entertainment writer and digital editor and producer, among other newsroom posts. He also writes regularly about boxing, soccer, MMA and NASCAR.